RI7ER JOURNAL POSTS

The Big Brown Chocolate Conveyor Belt spat me into the Gariep Dam - South Africa's largest inland water mass.

It was an eventful 2 days crossing the 37 year-old man-made dam.

The first 10kms still have current, and several gaps I travelled through also had moving water. The lake is currently just over 70 percent full - the rocky shoreline with tons of driftwood scattered along its shores shows the evident high-water mark as about 10 foot higher than current water level.  

Ants are everywhere - charging around over the scorched rocky shorelines and islands. Huge flocks of Egyptian and the larger spurwing geese rise into the air on my arrival near their nesting areas along shore. Parents of youngsters try to lure you away with that fake broken wing trick of theirs, flapping along the surface as though in distress to distract you from their nests. Islands of goliath heron nests with pale blue eggs, catfish rising to the surface poking out their flat bony heads to get some fresh air ... or look around or whatever they do. The heat and shimmer off the large water surface with its high evaporation rate, gives a hot sticky humid air about the place.

I stayed at 2 campsites along the way - Oviston and here at the Gariep dam wall. Great to have some hot showers and facilities to clean up my silt-laden gear and body. I have also been fortunate to have my parents come visit me here for 3 days. Got some great goodies to add to my food supply, caught up with the world via internet and had a few cold ones to remind me of the great taste of beer.

A lake this large also has its dangers. Surrounded by a hot semi-desert area with strong winds, and high evaporation in these summer months, the length of the dam creates a huge fetch as the heat rises during the day, the wind picks up speed and by late afternoon the waves are 2 metres high with winds at gale force, followed by lightning storms with hail and heavy rain. It can turn a trip on the lake into a nightmare. It is essential to get your paddling done by early afternoon.

 On my paddle from Oviston to the wall I headed out westward to a group of islands. I stopped here to have breakfast and take a rest after an early 12 km paddle. Debating over the map to take a short cut through the islands or follow the original river around the islands, I chose the latter as it was only going to be about 2 kms extra. About 15 mins after I  left the island, heard a sound ... unnatural ... stopped paddling and had a look around. By pure chance noticed movement on a spit of land about 5 to 6 hundred metres north of me.

Slowly paddling closer saw 2 people ... 1 sitting, the other waving something frantically. I arrived to find a couple who looked like they had slept there last night ... they had ... and it had not been planned . They had been fishing the previous afternoon in their 18 footer with 35hp outboard and had decided to head back to Oviston when the wind started picking up. Turns out that the weather changed rapidly and they decided to gun it back in the huge swell. The man told me it took 3 waves - the boat was totally flooded, floated for about an hour as they hung onto it ... then sank.

They swam for 3 hours in the dark to get to shore and hugged each other all night to keep out the cold. I brought out the breakfast again and we all tucked in - strong bittersweet tea did the trick for sure and a few biscuits with peanut butter added to the little light-hearted jokes of being in serious danger the night before. I can’t even begin to imagine what they went through.

A quick call to my mom (gotta love cell-phone reception at a time like this) to get some contact numbers and we had a boat there within an hour to pick them up. Fortunately it was a beautiful calm day, so I headed over to the nearest island and chilled out for an hour with some fishing to steady the mind.

An awesome tailwind for the last 5 kms sailed me into  the Forever Resort’s sheltered bay ... where I watched a fresh storm start building out over the Gariep Dam .

Am currently at the 910 km mark and I cannot wait to get out on the water and get right into a fairly lengthy portage around the 100m-high wall first thing Monday morning.

Bring it on ! .......  1 paddle-stroke at a time, 1 hour at a time and 1 day at a time ... some interesting challenges ahead, but lets talk about them ... when they get done .